Scandic Marski Helsinki

The location of the Marski can't be beat. It is across the street from Stockmanns, Finland's largest department store, and at the head of Esplanade, the "Miracle Mile" of Helsinki. The main market square is a three or four minute stroll from the hotel.

We stayed in two different rooms. The first was in the unrenovated part of the hotel, and it showed. The carpet was stained and nasty, but the beds themselves were comfortable. Our second room was in the renovated section and it was just fine: nice wood floors, heated tile in the bathroom and same great beds.

If you can get the hotel for a great price it's certainly worth it.

Excellent place to base yourself in Helsinki. Its right opposite the Stockmann dept store and takes you right on the long Esplanade park towards the Market hall at the other end.

The room was very nice and clean, reaasonably sized for europe, with heated floors in the loo. Good sized tv, and airconditioned too (you need it even up in Helsinki in the summer!). The best part is the breakfast, which I think offers one of the best spread in Europe.

Highly recommended.

The Scandic Marski is classic eighties/nineties property (think Holiday Inn). The rooms are functional but dated and in parts slightly worn out. The superior room I stayed in had a double bed, a mini bar, and a very small bathroom. Strangely enough the bed came with two single duvets. The superior rooms are not cheap and don't come with any extras, such as luxurious toiletries, welcome drink or fruit but the room is adorned with pictures advertising other Scandic promotions. I can't imagine what the 'regular' rooms are like.

The breakfast is served in the usual self service fashion. While there is certainly a lot on offer the hot options were well and truly awful: runny scrambled eggs, undercooked beans and sausages that definitely were not properly cooked. The cold varities were better if limited in terms of cheese and cold cuts. The worst however was the coffee. A real throwback to Soviet style burnt and bitter coffee. YUK

The one main attraction of the Scandic however is its location. Right in the centre all that Helsinki has to offer is within easy reach. The city centre location also brings its own problems: You may get accosted by prostitutes right outside the hotel at night time.

Having said all of that I probably would consider the Scandic again.

Pros

-central location

-very good bed

-breakfast was plentiful

-Hilton Executive club members get 1 bottle of water, a news paper and a 6 EUR credit for use in their restaurants

Cons

-very old (style) and small room even though it was a superior room

-very badly flooding floor drain in a very old-fashioned bathroom

-service at the reception hit-and-miss

Overall, we paid 136 EUR for a room not worth over 70 EUR and felt that the hotel does not offer good value for money. The room would have been fine if it had cost half the amount we paid, the drain had been working and we had expected a NORMAL 3 star hotel room. It took a week from the hotel to reply to my feedback, but at least they did reply and offered a fair compensation. And it seems they really noted the things I mentioned in my feedback. But anyway, I would still recommend Hilton Strand or Scandic Simonkenttä if you want to use a hotel in the Hilton/Scandic group.

The Scandic Hotel Marski sits dead centre of Helsinki and is well appointed and competitively priced. The lobby features a coffee shop, kids play area, free internet access and restaurant. Lifts are activated by inserting key cards, which makes the hotel more secure.

The hotel is split into two buildings connected by an annex. My room was a 'standard' (472), in the second (and older looking) part via the annex and although fairly compact was spotlessly clean.

Room features include air conditioning, safe, trouser press, laundry service, mini bar and remote TV with English channels. No tea/coffee making facilites were the only notable omission.

Breakfast is one of Scandic's best points and this hotel is no different, with a super selection of fresh fruit, cereals, hot buffet, toast and a selection of teas/coffee.

Not as good as the Scandic Continental, but not far behind and location certainly a plus. 4 stars.

The Scandic Marski was a great place to stay in Helsinki. You can't beat the location, which is an easy walk to the Atheneum Museum and all the other major sites of downtown. Our room was impeccably clean, very pleasant, with a beautiful view of the streets and harbor. The room design itself was not the best, with a column sticking out from the center, between the two beds. Front desk service is nothing less than excellent. The clerks were friendly, helpful, and very patient in explaining the place to this pair of ignoramus tourists.

Stayed here whilst on business twice this month & rate it fairly highly against other Hotels in Helsinki. The Marski is a comfortable hotel right in the centre of Helsinki, with direct access to restaurants, bars & shops. Clean rooms. Internet/Dial-Up access. Friendly staff. Taxi rank right outside hotel if you need to travel outwith city centre. Pretty popular hotel, so book well in advance.

This is one of my favourite hotels in Helsinki. It is located right in the city center, right opposite to the Stockmann department store.

Rooms are relatively big and nicely furnished, the hotel restaurant is OK and the bathrooms are quite big (at least those with the bathtub).

The only complaint is that if you get a room from the Mannerheimintie (= Helsinki's main street) side, there will be some noise from the street. On the other hand you can have an interesting view from those rooms (= Mannerheimintie/Stockmann).